Browns selected for this year’s HBO ‘Hard Knocks’

The Cleveland Browns are one of six NFL teams that were eligible to be chosen for this year’s edition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” and it sounds like the Baker Mayfield storyline was too good for the network to pass up.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, HBO is expected to announce on Thursday that the Browns have been chosen.

Will become official later today: Browns selected to be featured team on this summer’s Hard Knocks, per source.

In order for teams to be exempt from “Hard Knocks,” teams have to either have a first-year head coach, have made the playoffs in the previous two seasons, or have appeared on Hard Knocks in the past 10 years. The Browns meet none of those criteria. They’re also coming off an 0-16 season and have one of the most polarizing figures in sports in Mayfield, so the choice was not a surprise.